At once unfiltered and intimate, “Creatures in the Dirt” is The Hogstad Brothers’ nine-track debut. It sounds like a dialogue with your inner self, an album with an ear for immersive soundscapes. Emerging from a relationship that burned to the ground and was built from the ashes, the 32-minute journey sees the Palmdale, California, duo laying bare through lush, intricate instrumentation and poetic self-examination. From the hushed, incantatory opener “Whisper” to the burnished, dusky closer “Worth It,” “Creatures in the Dirt” resonates.
The brothers have said the album reflects their emotional excavation. They explained they were dealing with many life struggles when they wrote this album. Their search for these struggles took place alongside and through the lyrical discussions in these songs. “Creatures in the Dirt” is ultimately about an often choppy journey toward compassion for ourselves and every other being, a journey taken while living in a world that can sometimes feel inhumane.
The album is pulsing and authentic, moving fluidly from moments of pain to hope to healing. Tracks like “Rain” provide delicate beauty, and the uplifting “Take Me Higher,” a highlight single, is a soaring rallying cry toward growth and light. A second gut punch arrives in “Walking Out of Darkness,” a daring, emotional anthem that its title suggests is a transformative moment.
Whether it’s the melancholy lurch of “Waiting to Fly” or the dreamy ache of “Carousel,” every song feels like a page in a bigger, profoundly human story. The brothers’ harmonies are honest as if they’d distilled the filth under their fingernails and spun it into melody. With “Creatures in the Dirt,” the Hogstad Brothers have birthed a universe that encourages you to hear their stories in the echoes of struggle, healing, and hope.
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